1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operation microscope with an integrated operation navigation system.
2. Description of Prior Art
Such an operation microscope is known from the brochure 30-280-e of the Carl Zeiss Company entitled "A New Perspective in Neurosurgery." With this operation microscope which is intended for neurosurgery, a surgical intervention can be planned on the basis of diagnostic data: for example, a target point, and an operation path to this target point, are established and stored. During the operation, the surgeon can then allow himself to be guided by the navigation system along the operation path which has been established to reach the target point. Orientation data in the form of navigation symbols which show the path are indicated by the reflection of a display screen into the visual field of the microscope. Such navigation symbols are, for example, small crosses which mark the planned operation path and/or the present focus point, directional arrows, data on distance to the target point, and so on.
It is also possible to plan and store several alternative operation paths, in order not to be constrained to a single path during the operation. A desired operation path can then be chosen by means of the navigation system and displayed in the visual field of the microscope. Moreover, the navigation system offers further aids to orientation, for example, contours of given brain structures which are reflected into the visual field in correct positions, and even offers the possibility of modifying the operation planning during the operation.
Detailed examples relating to the mode of operation of such an operation microscope with integrated navigation system are given in the German Patent Application P 44 16 229.4 of the Carl Zeiss Company.
In the operation microscope which is known from the brochure 30-280-d, the control of the navigation system, e.g., the changeover to another planned operation path or the activation of a contour representation, assisted by a display on the so-called work station, takes place in a planning and operating unit which is separate from the operation microscope proper. When the surgeon himself wishes to act on the navigation system to control it, he thus has to turn away from the operation microscope, and thus to interrupt his observation of the region of the operation. However, this is to be avoided exactly in those critical operative situations which require an effect on the operative navigation.